Idaho School Bus Rolls Over On Highway 26 Leaving A Dozen Students Hospitalized

According to police, a school bus rolled over on a rural Idaho highway leaving at least a dozen students hospitalized.

A rolled schoolbus:

Junior high students from Carey School were on their way to a track meet in Gooding when their bus crashed about 125 miles southeast of Boise on U.S. Highway 26, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Rene Rodriguez.

Idaho State Police said that on Tuesday the driver, Richard Mecham, 67, drove off the right shoulder, overcorrected and rolled the school bus.

39 students were on the bus. One of the student’s parent said that her daughter witnessed a frantic scene before the bus flipped over, the coaches kept yelling to get the driver’s attention.

Cindy Stocking of Carey told The Associated Press: “Students heard the coach yell at the driver ‘hey, hey, hey!’ right before the bus flipped.”

Despite the school discouraging parents from going to the site, but Stocking instantly drove to the scene after she received a call from her 13-year-old daughter Hailee.

Stocking said: “I found her and we hugged like we never have before.” She added that Hailee was involved in another rollover crash six months ago in a family car.

Resulting injuries:

Air ambulance transported five students to hospitals, while several more were taken by ambulance or private vehicles.

According to Rodriguez none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Despite earlier reports stating that after the incident, 17 students from Carey School had been taken to hospitals, some seriously injured, but later Tuesday police said that 12 were taken to hospitals.

According to police, the three adults on the bus, two track coaches and the bus driver, were not sent to a hospital as reported earlier. The driver hadn’t been injured, while the coaches were treated at the scene.

Police didn’t release any details concerning the injuries.

Spokesman for the Blaine County School District, Heather Crocker, said: “We’re relieved that there were no life-threatening injuries to students and staff,” adding that the district has sent staff to the hospitals.

Rodriguez stated that volunteer emergency responders are what rural area relies on, several headed to the scene of the crash after they received an alert via text.